The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Very-quick Madison Tea Party thoughts

I’ve got a couple minutes between Madison’s Tea Party and Fort Atkinson’s, so I’ll put a couple thoughts up on what 5,000-6,000 of my closest friends and I saw and heard.

– The theme of the day is that elections matter. It isn’t enough to be involved today; we need to be involved tomorrow, next week, next month, and next election.

– I should’ve brought the Big Black Camera. It was far too bright to get good pics off the Blackjack.

– It was refreshing to hear both Reince Priebus (RPW chair) and Rep. Paul Ryan note that both parties are at fault for this. Ryan did, however, forget that his votes of last year, and his vote for the 90% TARP tax, are also parts of this.

– Superior mayor Dave Ross wondered where the higher-taxes rally was. I submit it was inside that building we were in front of.

– Speaking of that building, and the party that controls it, they pulled a rather dirty trick by scheduling a whole host of committee hearings for during that rally. Leah Vukmir didn’t get out of her committee hearing until at the end.

– Personal lesson of the day; check the batteries in the voice recorder before bringing it. DVR #1 died about 30 minutes in, and DVR #2 died just as Vicki McKenna came out.

Two thoughts about liberals who are outraged, amused, or dare I say, terrified by the tea party protests:

1) It is not as much about taxes, or the specific percentage I am being taxed. If my tax rate were lowered from 25% to 20% but that 20% will be flushed away in utterly wasteful spending, then that is still an outrage. Especially as our budget deficits climb ever higher.

2) We should all REJOICE, no matter what our politics are, that so many concerned citizens are becoming more involved in their government. I was at the Madison rally, too. Riding the bus back to Milwaukee, I was impressed and gratified to see how closely the protesters had been following current events and the various votes in Madison and D.C. This is something to celebrate, not something to fear.

All you lefties out there, I didn’t always like the rhetoric you used when you protested the war in Iraq. I didn’t like the disrespectful tone of your criticism of President Bush. But I thank God we live in a country where ANYONE is allowed to voice his or her dissent.

P.S. Yes, I should have protested the spending during the Bush presidency. That’s my bad: I wasn’t paying attention then.

Kind of lame that a CONGRESSMAN was at the anti-government rally, since (a) he gets a fat government paycheck out of our taxes and (b) Ain’t he supposed to be working–

Ryan’s a publicity whore… I shall be sending him a douchebag tomorrow.

Congratulations on your new activism. No you shouldn’t have been protesting during the Bush years… since this is all ideological it would have been idiotic for you to actually have an opinion that contrasted with your patron saint Bush. Hence your reverence for Congressman Ryan now. Was it his speech that got you all orgasmic, or perhaps your sense of togetherness?

But we do agree that elections matter. Nice work on the last one, kids. Congratulations to Justice Koshnick for pulling in 41 percent of the vote. About as good as McCain. And while you guys get your panties in a bundle, perhaps it would help to recognize there were more people grilling hamburgers at Miller Park than at your orgy in Madison.